Spotlighting resources for children with disabilities.

770,000 children across Britain are disabled – that's about one in twenty. And with the requirements of the Care Act now in place, it's incumbent upon councils to help make sure these young people and their families can easily find the local resources they need.

Local Offer goes beyond statutory obligations to provide a simple, elegant resource for information and services relating to special educational needs. More than a service directory, the offering allows users to browse resources, save and share relevant service information, recommend services, and share feedback.

By empowering residents to self-serve, Local Offer reduces time and resources spent by council staff. It also reduces workloads for content administrators by enabling local service providers to publish their own content directly.

Local Offer was co-designed with parents and young people who have experience of accessing information and SEN services. The end result is an interactive, user-focused tool that lets users intuitively navigate their way to the specific information they need – without needing to rely on phone or face-to-face conversations with front-end workers.

Scout is simple and much quicker than I imagined. There are services in there I have never heard of.

– Service User

9,500

Services available to users of Scout

12,000

People have used Scout to find local services this year

5

Local authorities using Scout directory services

Key features

Identify and access the right resources via powerful search and filtering tools

Save, share, and directly purchase the services they want

Provide feedback on any services they use

Connect with other families of disabled children for support

For local authorities

Offer a single point of connection to multiple directory interfaces, including Local Offer, FIS, and the social care marketplace

Create and share curated lists of resources with users

Give service providers the ability to manage their own data and information

Access data analytics that demonstrate supply and demand around resources